Monsters

Just recently, my three year old son started to talk about Monsters. Though I closely monitor everything he watches….somehow he got wind of monsters and won’t let up. “No there are no monsters, they are just part of your imagination…they aren’t real, ” I find myself often uttering. My 18 month old daughter though, has not been introduced to the concept of monsters, and in her world….they simply don’t exist….yet.

I have found that this mindset continues on into adulthood….those who believe in monsters and those who don’t…that is until they encounter one first hand. Now, I am not talking big hair goons with four arms and one eyeball…..I am talking evil. Yes, evil. I have discovered that many think if they don’t talk about evil, or acknowledge it, it’ll just go away. It’s like when my daughter covers her eyes with here hands and “poof” I am not there…in her mind -I have disappeared! But I didn’t disappear, I am still there. Likewise, evil is still present…whether one chooses to acknowledge it or not.

I am not saying evil needs to be the topic of conversation at every meal, but there must be discussion on how to combat evil….because… like it or not….evil doesn’t let up…it persists until YOU do something to stop it. Yes, I said YOU….because you are responsible for stopping it or not. One of the most honest quotes I have ever heard is by German theologian- Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil, is evil itself: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act.”

This ignorance to evil, has almost become trendy even fashionable. I am currently witnessing this from our president with his approach to all our foreign policy. This idea that we can all gather together around the campfire and sing “Kumbaya” with our enemies, is baffling to me. I don’t get it. I also don’t get it when I see that popular “coexist” bumper sticker. I smirk, shake my head and think-that person is straight up ignorant. “Oh come on, how could you say that” you might say!?? I say it quite easily actually….because I know evil exists. I also know, you don’t coexist with evil, you don’t hold evils hand, rub it’s back and wish for change. No….you come against evil! You, give evil no place to breed, fester and grow….you destroy evil….and if it crawls back from the dead, you drive it back into the ground with ten times more fierceness than you did before….until that evil is no more.

It takes effort and dedication to accomplish this, but I don’t know who came up with the belief that life was supposed to be “easy.” This notion that we are here for a short time so let’s just go along to get along….

I see it differently. I believe that we were created and designed with purpose for a specific reason. To be a light. To shine light on darkness and to fight against evil. I believe this is the ONLY way to preserve good. We are to be vigilant and on guard and most importantly, not deceived. Evil takes many shapes and forms….but it’s soul purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.

Wow….intense right….yes, it is….but I know that Good triumphs over evil in the end. Our job is to be bold, unafraid, and to live our life with purpose….not for pleasure. The only way to preserve good here on this earth is to stand up to tyranny. The responsibility of our children’s future rests on our shoulders. I see the monsters….but if God is for me, who can be against me.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good Romans 12:21